The Federal Reserve Bank of New York works to promote sound and well-functioning financial systems and markets through its provision of industry and payment services, advancement of infrastructure reform in key markets and training and educational support to international institutions.

The New York Fed engages with individuals, households and businesses in the Second District and maintains an active dialogue in the region. The Bank gathers and shares regional economic intelligence to inform our community and policy makers, and promotes sound financial and economic decisions through community development and education programs.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will release a four-part blog series next week that examines various aspects of the value of a college degree. The series builds on previous Bank research on trends in higher education. The blog series “Back to School: The Value of a College Degree” will begin September 2 and consist of four posts that will run through September 4.

The series will feature the following four posts:

“The Value of a College Degree” estimatesthe dollar value of a bachelor’s degree, and shows that this figure remains near its all-time high. The post also estimates the number of years it takes to break-even on the upfront costs paid to obtain a college degree.

“Staying in College Longer than Four Years Costs More Than You Might Think” assesses the costs of taking five or six years to complete a bachelor’s degree as opposed to the typical four years—and reveals that the return on a college degree drops substantially as the time to completion increases.

“College May Not Pay Off for Everyone” shows that while calculations based on average outcomes suggest that college clearly pays off, there are a significant number of people for whom college may turn out to be a bad investment.

“Are the Job Prospects of Recent College Graduates Improving?” reviews the job prospects of recent college graduates through the first half of 2014. The post provides updated data on unemployment and underemployment for recent college graduates, and looks at data on online job postings to assess whether the demand for graduates is increasing or decreasing.